The referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,830, Hofmann, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a linear production line system in which transport plates are moved by transport belts between work stations, for example from work station to work station along a predetermined path, defined by the path of the transport system. The transport plates retain workpieces thereon, for working on the workpieces at the work stations, for example manually, by machine tools, or the like. The transport plates, upon reaching a work station, are lifted off the transport belts. They are stopped, to permit assembly work, or working on the workpieces, and then, after the required operations are finished, are again released for further transport by the transport belts. In such a system, the clock time or cadence is determined by that one of the work stations which requires the longest operating time on the workpieces. The transport belts are driven continuously with a constant speed, which can be comparatively low.